


Alpha & Omega: Eclipse Among The Stars

by Nexarc



Series: Alpha & Omega [1]
Category: Multi-Fandom, Star Trek, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cameos, Canon-Typical Violence, Multiple Crossovers, Multiple Universes Colliding, Original Character(s), Post-Movie: Star Trek Nemesis (2002), Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23634898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexarc/pseuds/Nexarc
Summary: After a wormhole opens between two galaxies, their fates become tangled together in a way beyond either could imagine.  Their entwined destinies now rest in the hands of a single starship and her crew from both sides.
Series: Alpha & Omega [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701466
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story started on FF.net in 2011. I will start transferring the chapters here and update where appropriate. Due to the expected plot, while it will make references to new canon (everything post-SW:TFA and post ST:DIS), it will diverge and make up it's own continuity. Please no spoilers for those who already read the published chapters. Will not have regular updates so don't forget to review and subscribe!

"Let's go to the beach!" exclaimed a hyperactive young male, bouncing around the room.

"I can't wait 'till we get back to Earth! It's so boring onboard and I'm tired of just fooling around in the holodeck all day!"

"Shut up! I am trying to get some work done!"

Doctor Horace J. Smith massaged his aching temple as he tried to ignore his blond companion. They have been in space for several months already for a shakedown cruise and spent the last few weeks patrolling what was left of the Romulan Neutral Zone. All the while he was getting tired of a certain science officer's antics. He was looking forward to some relaxation next week when the mission was scheduled to be over.

"If you're that bored why don't you go stare at comets in astrometrics or look for rogue warbirds?"

A raspberry was his only response. Commander Doran was acting incredibly immature for someone who was second in command of a starship as well as chief science officer. His physical appearance didn't help the situation either. Despite his age, Doran looked and acted like an average teenage man from his silver-gray eyes to his never ending hair style changes, which is currently in its usual short, golden color.

"I would but I decided that hanging out with you is much more entertaining."

The doctor sighed, about to resume his task when he glanced up to see Doran hovering near some of the medical samples.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

\--AO--

Captain Aka'ula Kagami turned his head at the sound of a chirping combadge. Nicknamed Red by his colleagues, it was his first assignment as a Starfleet Captain and already he was getting a bit stressed by the responsibilities. Moving away from the mirror he was looking in he strolled over to the desk to see who was calling so early in the morning.

"Captain…."

Aka'ula smirked, knowing that Doran was probably stirring up trouble again and annoying the hell out of Horace.

"…sickbay here. I suggest that you come down here and help me with a certain teenage idiot."

"Alright, I am on my way. Kagami out."

Ending the call, Red took a quick glance back at the mirror. His dark hair was a bit unruly but acceptable for the moment so he left his quarters after a quick uniform check. Along the way he kept getting held back by crew members attempting to shove reports into his arms. He ignored them and he moved at a more brisk pace, stopping only once to tell off two ensigns loitering in the corridor.

When the sickbay doors opened at his arrival, he stifled a laugh, glad he didn't walk inside. For some reason the artificial gravity was down so the doctor was floating upside down near his desk, arms and legs crossed Indian-style and a glare on his face.

"Took you long enough."

Red turned and found the culprit floating near an examination table with a glass of questionable liquid in hand, giggling madly.

"Hey Cap! Did you ever try this stuff? Found it in the doctor's personal stash earlier. It's….it's…um…..it's green!"

The teen giggled even more, a blush starting to form from the whiskey. Red merely smiled, glancing over at the doctor, who was now trying to get himself toward the deck, grumbling to himself.

"Why did they ever give that idiot his rank? He spends more of his time drinking and annoying the hell out of me than actually doing anything else…."

"Quit exaggerating Horace, you know as well as I do he is competent when he is on duty."

"Too bad he isn't on duty when I am around…..Red! Turn on the damn gravity already!"

Commanding the computer to restore gravity, Red laughed as his blond first officer fell onto the table with a thud. Doran pouted, looking even more immature than usual.

"Awww. Captain! Why did you have to ruin the fun?"

"Why don't we let Horace do his work? Alpha shift is about to begin and I need you to sober up and get to business. Starfleet really wants us to perform a few more long range scans before we return next week."

The captain then grabbed the officer by the wrist, dragging the teen in the direction of the bridge. Doran merely shrugged, looking back toward the doctor with a grin on his face.

"Jaa nee Hora-sama!"

The doctor shuddered at the nickname, watching the doors shut behind the two.

"Why did she ever teach him that language?"

\--AO--

_Captain's Log: Stardate 64560.11_

__

__

_Long range sensors have detected a strange anomaly a few light years from the former Romulan Neutral Zone. As the closest ship, Starfleet Command has ordered us to investigate the phenomenon to determine possible causes. The only thing we can determine at the moment is that it is of neither Romulan nor Klingon origin._

Red sat watching the bridge crew perform scans of the anomaly in front of them before looking at the image on the viewscreen. Although he wouldn't admit it, the anomaly seemed almost beautiful. A massive whirlpool of dust and particulates were slowly spinning in the void of space, a faint light emanating from the center. Turning his gaze from the screen, he then looked over to where the commander and a lieutenant were reviewing some data readouts.

"Commander, report."

The commander did not respond, looking down at the PADD in confusion.

"Commander?"

Doran jumped a little, giving the captain an apologetic look.

"It seems to be a new, stabilizing wormhole. Graviton and neutrino levels are higher than expected. We haven't yet determined where it leads but we are about to send a probe."

'A stable wormhole?' thought Red, looking back toward the viewscreen. A stable wormhole would result in a large interest in the area, just like what happened with Bajor and Deep Space 9. Hopefully this time they won't find themselves with another Dominion.

"Understood. Send a quick briefing on what you have learned so far to Starfleet and then launch the probe."

"Aye Sir."

A few minutes later as final preparations for the probe where being completed, a small alarm brought everyone's attention back towards the wormhole. At the center of the swirling cloud, green flashes appeared at random moments before fading away. Red's expression tightened slightly, concern gripping the edge of his mind.

"What is going on? Someone, report!"

"Plasma discharges detected. Data readouts indicate that that the energy is too uniform and direct, so we can rule out natural phenomenon."

Red glanced up at the viewscreen. 'Could the plasma be some form of communication or a weapon? Is there a group trying to make contact or is there a battle waging on the other side of the wormhole?' Even if it wasn't the latter, as Captain it was his duty to protect his ship and crew.

"Go to yellow alert. Raise shields and place weapons on standby. Mr. Doran, launch the probe, I want to know what is going on."

"Aye Sir"

Seconds barely passed when the situation changed.

"Captain! Two contacts detected! A small shuttle is exiting the wormhole followed by….Sir! The second vessel is over one and a half kilometers long!"


	2. Chapter 2

Deep in the unknown regions a lone Imperial Star Destroyer was on patrol. On the bridge, an admiral was pacing in frustration. Amber eyes angrily scanned the room, looking for a poor crewman who would have the displeasure of facing his wrath.

"We need to create a battle plan….something that we can use to regain our pride."

"Would you calm down and relax?"

Admiral Kalaghata turned around, glaring at the man behind him. Sitting in a chair, the commander of the vessel, Captain Ratula, was fiddling with something in his pocket.

"Relax? How can I relax! The empire has been dealt a heavy blow by Vader's demise and the alliance is gaining power with each passing day! How dare the others make me stay in the middle of nowhere on this damned bucket of bolts when I can be on the front lines! Do they not care about the Empire? And quit playing with that stupid coin, it is against policy to carry it!"

Ratula looked up, not even flinching at the glare Kalaghata was sending him. This scene was a daily occurrence after the defeat at Endor. After that battle, the Empire fractured into smaller groups, with theirs being one of the smallest. Because of their small numbers, the other admirals in the group had ordered Kalaghata and the ISD Kairos to patrol the unknown regions and find something to give them an advantage despite the Admiral's protests.

"They say that too much stress can kill a man…" Ratula responded, his expression calm despite his partner's death glare. "…keep complaining and we might see if that would come true. And besides, why are you complaining about my coin when you're standing there with a necklace?"

The admiral clutched the pendant he was wearing, his eyes narowing slightly.

"Fine, but if you keep acting like a stoic nobleman your death will come faster than mine. Now get off your ass and help me think."

"You? Thinking? How absurd!"

"I guess I actually will kill you…"

Kalaghata turned, deciding then to ignore the captain until otherwise needed. Who did Ratula think he was to question a superior officer? Uttering a low growl, he shifted his attention towards the transparent steel windows.

Staring at no particular point, his eyes widened slightly in surprise before a smirk took its place.

"It seems to me that we have a little guest from the Alliance. Why don't we give them a proper welcoming?"

\--AO--

Eri did not have any luck going for her these past few months. First it took her forever to get a shuttle of her own, moving from job to job to pay for one. Second, the previous owner did not tell her that half the systems were broken, leading to random destinations or breakdowns at every other hyper-jump. The third and most annoying thing, of all the places in the galaxy to exit hyperspace, she is deposited right in front of an ISD in the middle of nowhere before the drives overheated and died.

"Well, there goes my 20 year record of not being caught by the Empire."

Eri was one of the few younglings who escaped the great Jedi purge. Her master and family had died soon after so she had been all alone ever since. Glancing up, she decided to humor them by answering their hail. Just as with the rest of the craft, the hologram emitters were in disrepair, resulting in only a garbled message.

"Attention…..shuttle. This is Admiral…aboard the Imperial….Destroyer Kairos. State your intentions immediately….commence firing. You…five minutes to respond."

Brushing a few strands of red hair out of the way, Eri snorted at the message. "Just like the Empire to tell their prey to surrender or die. They didn't even bother asking why I am here." Knowing that her shuttle was no match for the gigantic warship, she hailed back to buy time while trying to restart the engine.

"This Eri piloting shuttle A-113, I mean you no harm. My navigation computer has malfunctioned and I have arrived here by accident. I will be on my way shortly after my engines have properly restarted."

The response was not so welcoming. "This is area…Imperial rule. You have 5 minutes… as an invader and subject to insp…... Prepare to be boarded."

Eri rubbed her temples at the information. 'Since when had this region of space been Empire territory?' Fortunately for her, the engines roared back to life a few moments later.

"Well, I don't need to be here anymore! See ya!"

With that, Eri turned her shuttle away from the ISD.

\--AO--

Kalaghata stared out at the shuttle attempting to flee away, amused by the cowardice of the pilot. "We've got our answer. Commence firing immediately."

Green bolts flashed across the void attempting to score a hit on the tiny spacecraft. Most flew too far off, but a few came within meters of striking the evading shuttle.

"It seems she has a bit more skill then we guessed. Continue firing."

The game of cat and mouse continued, the gigantic destroyer firing at the helpless shuttle, occasionally striking a lucky shot on the hull.

Eri was sweating, half the systems fried and the shuttle damaged beyond her control.

"Damned empire, did you know how long it took me to get even a quarter of these circuits running? One more hit and I'm dead."

Just when it seemed that there was nothing she could do, both she and the shuttle disappeared in a flash of light.

"A wormhole? Follow her in!" yelled the admiral, watching as the shuttle flew straight into a wormhole.

"But sir! We don't know if that wormhole is stable let alone where it leads! We weren't even aware it was there until the pilot flew in!"

"I don't care! If that girl somehow finds a way back to the alliance, we can lose our territory in this area!"

"But.."

The admiral rounded on the helpless navigator, "THAT WAS AN ORDER!"

"..ah..aye sir!"

With that, the ISD flew into the wormhole in pursuit.


	3. Chapter 3

Kalaghata stared out at the strange vessel hovering out in the distance. A triangular shaped upper hull with two glowing engines jutting out of the lower half, it was so small it could barely reach a quarter of the ISD's length. Ratula came up from behind, also gazing at the craft.

"I have never seen a ship of that configuration before. In fact, I don't recognize the local star patterns. Have you?"

Kalaghata gave a brief glance at the man next to him with a strange look of distant recollection before he suddenly shouted, nearby crewmen jumping in surprise as he began giving orders.

"Scan that vessel and the area around us! I want to know where we are and who that ship belongs to!"

"Admiral, I can't really get a clear reading."

Kalaghata glared down at the insolent man.

"Are you saying you can't get a clear reading from that ship?"

"Sir, I can barely get a reading from the space around us! From what I can tell, the entire subspace layer here is ridiculously unstable. Most scans can hardly get through the resulting interference. It is the near equivalent of our standard jamming equipment. I doubt that anyone can get a signal past 20 or 30 light years without some heavy modification."

Kalaghata's glare intensified.

"Can we still make a hyper-jump?"

"It is possible, but I don't recommend it until we make further detailed scans."

The admiral swore under his breath, turning around to notice the shuttle attempting to get closer to the alien craft.

-AO-

Eri gazed in amazement at the strange craft from the other side of the wormhole. With the amount of windows it had she almost thought it was some sort of private yacht. Knowing that the unknown ship could be her only way to contact the alliance, she began to worm her way towards it, attempting to hail it as she went.

-AO-

"Stop that shuttle! Who knows what will happen if the pilot makes contact with the Federation!"

Ratula turned at the Admiral's order.

"Federation? What federation are you talking about? That ship doesn't look like any Trade Federation ship I had ever seen."

Kalaghata was steaming behind him. Not taking his eyes off the unknown ship for a moment he tried to get himself under control.

"Not the Trade Federation, it is an entity that calls itself the United Federation of Planets. But how can a Starfleet ship be here? Unless…"

"What about the shuttle?"

"Ignore it. We have bigger problems here…."

Ratula stood still confused as the Admiral rushed past him and jumped into the crew pit below, knocking a crewman away from a console as he began rapidly typing commands, muttering so low that it that Ratula had to strain his ears to hear him.

"Where are we? Where are we? What are they doing here? Damned Kirk and his cronies!"

Ratula still got even more confused yet interested at the same time.

'Kirk? Who is this Kirk and what does he have to do with this situation and the Admiral's attitude? Was he part of this United Federation of Planets?'

Ratula was shaken from his thoughts as a crewmember spoke from the other side of the bridge.

"Admiral! Captain! The unknown vessel is attempting to hail us on a strange subspace frequency. It contains a holographic signal but it is not in a standard Holonet format or even a compatable one. For now I can only receive audio."

Kalaghata ignored it and continued his frantic typing. Ratula shook his head then went over by the communications station.

"Play it"

An unknown language piped through the speakers. Ratula looked around, seeing if anyone could recognize the language. His eyes settled on the admiral. Kalaghata might have understood the message, but he made no hint that he did as he continued whatever he was attempting on the console.

"I can't seem to make it out. I don't recognize the language at all. Get a protocol droid here. We need to figure out what they want."

"NEVER MIND THAT!"

Ratula turned to look at the admiral, who seemed to have given up on his binge through the navigation-computer.

"Launch all fighters, I want that ship destroyed!"

"What? Why are you ordering us to attack an unknown party? We haven't had a chance to assess their capabilities yet or their intentions!"

Ratula looked back toward the strange ship, before noticing the shuttle disappeared in a shimmer of light.

"You now see their abilities? The Federation may be weak, but they are capable of a few things you can't even dream of. Fortunately I know a few things about their fighting abilities as well. Even their top of the line flagships can't damage a fully fledged ISD! As for their intentions, I doubt that they will ever be in our favor. Now do as I say. Remember that I am your superior officer."

The captain grimaced, not liking the current situation.

"I do not approve of this, but do as the admiral says."

-AO-

"Both ships are not responding to our hails."

Red sat with his eyes glued to the viewscreen. The gigantic vessel before them lazily drifted in place. He could immediately tell that it was a ship built for intimidation. A triangular hull with a tower placed on the aft end, it looked like a white dagger floating in the void.

"That shuttle looks pretty damaged. That may be the reason why it can't respond. Do the security scans yourself Mr. Doran, until Mr. Ambrosio can rejoin us. Nothing that can be mistaken as hostile action. I don't like the look of that larger ship."

"Aye sir, one moment please."

Doran walked over to the security station, relieving the crewman before beginning his scans.

"The shuttle is heavily damaged sir. There are multiple fractures and scorching along the hull. I don't know if its structural integrity will hold for long. There seems to be only a single occupant."

Red glanced toward the small craft attempting to get closer.

"Lower shields momentarily and beam the shuttle aboard. Call Ambrosio and send a team to shuttle bay 2 to render assistance and possible medical aid. Set your phasers on stun only. I don't want to completely shock and frighten our guest. As soon as the pilot's aboard, continue hailing the other ship but make discrete scans. I don't want to antagonize them."

"Aye sir."

-AO-

Eri screamed as a strange sensation overcame her. Everything shimmered in a strange haze as a slight tingling ripped through her entire body. It lasted for only few seconds, disappearing as quickly as it came.

"What the heck happened?"

The redhead blinked as she took in her surroundings. The shuttle was sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a hanger. Small shuttles lined the wall opposite her, all with similar markings as the alien ship.

Opening the hatch, she stepped outside to find a group of people in strange uniforms inspecting her ship. A few were of species she couldn't recognize, yet most seemed to be human. Reaching out with the Force, she subtly felt out for their thoughts and emotions. Almost all of them seemed curious about the shuttle, some registering slight shock and confusion from her emergence. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts as two men, one in yellow with a gun and another with a blue uniform with a strange device in his hand stepped forward. Cursing herself for leaving her lightsaber back in the shuttle, she placed her hands up and backed away slowly as the men began talking in a strange tongue.

"Excuse me? What are you saying! What is that thing you're holding?"

Confusion appeared on their faces as she spoke. Apparently they couldn't understand her either. One of the men motioned to one of his colleagues, who stepped forward with a cylindrical device. For a moment she feared it was a weapon, but the assuring look on the brunet's face calmed her nerves slightly.

The man motioned for her to talk into the device. Feeling silly, she held the little device and repeated her questions. Nothing happened and none of the aliens seemed fazed, some of them actually going back to inspect her shuttle. Growing frustrated by a lack of response, she began to rant on and on, asking why she was there and what they wanted. She continued screaming into the little device for a few minutes until the man with the yellow shoulders suddenly reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. She gasped in shock at the sudden contact and then again as the man began speaking in Basic.

"That was fine thank you. As much as I would like to know how will accomplish that last insult I am afraid we need to ask a few questions."

"Now can you speak Basic?"

The man in blue raised an eyebrow.

"Basic? Interesting name. Normally it takes a few seconds for the universal translator to process a language but yours was quite difficult for it. It didn't follow the lingua-code that most races in the galaxy follow. Forgive us, but we had to get a few phrases in before we could get a lock. Let me introduce myself. I am Doctor Horace Smith of the United Federation of Planets. Welcome aboard the _USS Arcana_. This is the Chief of Security, Fintan Ambrosio" he said while gesturing to his partner.

Processing the information for a moment, Eri noticed something odd.

"The United Federation of Planets? Never heard of it. And did you say most races in the Galaxy? Most of us speak Galactic Basic. You're the ones who speak something different."

Ambrosio pondered her slightly, looking at her like she was mad.

"You are the first person that we have encountered using your form of lingual code. Either you have a few memory problems or you haven't really been that far from home…."

Insulted by the implication, Eri was about to quip back when all of a sudden red lights began flashing along the bulkheads and an alarm began blaring. Eri turned to the doctor who tapped a small badge on his uniform.

"Doctor Smith to bridge, what is going on?"

"The large vessel has launched what appears to be a squadron of fighter craft and they are now all on an intercept course."

Eri swore loudly, making the doctor look at her in worry.

"I forgot about the imperials! We need to get out of here! How fast is this yacht?"

"Yacht? This isn't a pleasure craft. It is a long-range exploration vessel!"

"Even worse! Tell your military to get here as soon as possible!"

"Military? The Federation's main defensive arm is Starfleet, of which this ship is a part of. We are more than capable of defending ourselves if the need arises."

"But you just said this was an exploration vessel!"

"I don't have time for this! I need to get to sickbay. Lieutenant! Escort Ms…"

"Eri!"

"Ms Eri to the bridge. She might be needed up there."

With that statement, the doctor left, leaving an annoyed lieutenant and a stressed Jedi. Running back into her shuttle to grab her saber, Eri followed the yellow-shirted crewman to a turbolift.

"Have you ever heard of the Republic, or the Empire? Tell me that you have at least heard of the Force!"

The lieutenant glanced at her in confusion as they boarded the lift.

"You will have to be a bit more specific on those names. The Federation has encountered multiple republics and empires since its formation. In fact, just a few months ago three of the other major powers in the quadrant referred to themselves as empires. I am not sure if the Romulans can still call themselves as an empire anymore. But the 'Force'? What is that? Another society from your native region? Anyway here's our stop."

Eri couldn't help but feel that he was lying somehow, yet the way the doctor reacted she decided there may be something else. Ignoring her thoughts, she followed him onto the bridge.


	4. Chapter 4

Eri looked around the the ship's bridge. People sat working on multiple consoles lined across the bulkheads, while up forward was a long control console where a crewman was watching what seemed to be a large window showing the approaching Imperial fighters. The lighting was dimmed compared to the corridors and the same red lights remained flashing.

"Lieutenant Ambrosio, report to your station."

Eri turned to look at the man who sat up from one of the chairs near the center of the bridge. The man wore the same uniform as the others, with the exception of having red highlights and four yellow bands on the shoulder. His grey eyes looked at her in what seemed to be mild interest.

"Yes Captain. Here is our new guest. Ms. Eri."

Red turned to the newcomer, the girl was wearing simple yet somewhat dirty clothing, her deep red hair not as startling as her emerald green eyes, which were staring straight at him, observing his next moves.

"Good evening Ms Eri. Sorry that we had to meet in such circumstances. I am Aka'ula Kagami, captain of the starship _Arcana_. Before we get carried away with formalities, could you please contact your friends and tell them we come in peace? They haven't been responding to our hails."

Eri studied the man before her; he seemed too calm despite the situation; however, something felt off about him that she couldn't quite place. In fact, something felt off about nearly everything here. She could find out later, there were more important things at hand.

"The Imperials are NOT my friends. There is a war going on in which our people are rebelling against the Galactic Empire and recently we succeeded in fracturing it beyond repair. They are trying to regain power and will do anything to do so."

Red looked at her, yet it she still seemed trustworthy enough.

"So this Galactic Empire is willing to bring us into their conflict just to re-establish themselves as a dominant political power? I'm sorry but we shouldn't get involved with your battle with them. The Federation has this Prime Directive that forbids us from actively participating what is obviously a civil war. However, we may still be able to settle this diplomatically."

The Captain turned and retook his seat. Eri stood in shock. They did not understand the situation at all. Most people would have been worried about going up against the Empire in any form yet here was a group wanting to discuss things peacefully?

"Continue our hails Mr. Ambrosio. Tell them we are not a threat and wish to discuss things peacefully."

"Captain!"

Red turned to look at the girl, who just shoved Doran out of the way and took his seat.

"You don't seem to understand! The Empire wouldn't just put down their guns and just talk things over tea! They are desperate for power and may use you and your resources in doing so!"

Eri stared into the eyes of the captain. Despite the threat looming over them, he still remained so calm that it looked more like they were going to a picnic instead of into a battle.

"Ms Eri, has the rebellion ever tried negotiations?"

"Yes they have. And it almost always ended badly. The Empire merely feigned peace to weed others out and crush them. You can't negotiate with them!"

"Hopefully we will be able to accomplish something. Commander, have you finished your scans?"

Doran, who was rubbing his arm where Eri forcibly pushed him, nodded.

"The Imperial ship is armed with multiple light and heavy weaponry embankments. Most seem to be high powered plasma guns, while several seem to be ionized particle cannons. The design of the craft is used to focus most if not all of the firepower forward. I have yet to determine FTL capabilities yet the ship is propelled by large ion engines at sub-light speeds. The fighters are mostly single occupancy units also propelled by ion drives. Their armament consists of smaller plasma guns and what appear to be small fission-based warheads. I have already fed the specifics to the tactical console."

Eri looked at them in shock.

"You can tell all of that from here? What about their jamming signals?"

Doran turned to her.

"They were jamming us? I thought it was ambient interference from the wormhole. My scans were somewhat scrambled, but not so much that I couldn't get a signal through."

Eri pinched herself to ensure she wasn't asleep. How can these people not know of the Force or the Empire but can scan the basic structure of an Imperial warship despite jamming? Shaking her head, she pulled herself out of her thoughts as a crewmember suddenly shouted out.

"Captain! The Imperial ship is now attempting to respond! Their visual communications formatting is difficult to process, but I can get the audio through."

"Open the channel."

"This is Admiral Kalaghata of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Kairos_. This area is now under the direct control of the Galactic Empire. Surrender now or be destroyed. I await your reply"

Ambrosio, who was getting himself settled at his console, looked up from his readout.

"Captain, the fighters have taken up positions around the ship. Shields now online and weapons ready at your command."

"Understood. Reopen the channel. Attention Imperial vessel, I am Captain Aka'ula Kagami of the _USS Arcana_ representing the United Federation of Planets. Admiral, I have no understanding of why you wish to control this area, but it is already under our jurisdiction and as such we do not recognize your claim. However, we may send diplomatic parties and arrange a compromise. Please withdraw your fighters so we can settle this peacefully."

-AO-

Kalaghata laughed, taking a quick look at his fighters surrounding the puny Starfleet ship.

"Don't feign ignorance Captain, the Federation should have remembered my last encounter, though I represented a different party back then. I have learned from my mistakes and found a new ally. This warship so powerful that not even your entire arsenal of Constitution class starships can put a scratch on it. The Galactic Empire fielded hundreds of these vessels and several classes even larger and more powerful. Even though the main fleet is scattered, the Federation has no chance against our might. I suggest you call the man known as Captain Kirk and tell him that I come for pay back. Don't even try for diplomacy, I will take what is mine and there will be no stopping me."

Ending his threat, Kalaghata closed the channel. Ratula came up, confusion on his face.

"Admiral? What are you talking about? Why are you ignoring their suggestions to negotiate? Who is this Captain Kirk? What is it about this place that you are willing to risk our lives for? I agreed with you earlier just as a precaution, but these people seem uninterested in fighting! I may not know what they did to that Alliance shuttle, but until I get answers, I will pull back my men."

The captain walked pass him, intending to use the communications channel when the Admiral laid a tight grip on his shoulder. Turning around, he raised his eyebrow at the man seething in repressed rage.

"Captain…" he said in an icy tone "…it is wise to heed my orders. The Federation has done me great injustice in the past and I seek to correct this little problem. Before I joined the Empire, I once came across this place, yet a man by the name of James T. Kirk and his starship crew prevented me from realizing my goal of creating a new home for myself. Fortunately the Galactic Empire saw me for the man I am and took me in instead. Now I am back with a powerful ship and will not let this opportunity for revenge to slip away. If you do not agree with me, then you can spend the rest of this mission in the brig. GUARDS! Take this fool to a detention cell for questioning his orders!"

The captain glared at the insane man before him, struggling against the soldiers dragging him off the bridge.

"Revenge again? Will you ever learn? You are sacrificing the lives of our men just to satisfy your lust for payback? You sicken me!"

Kalaghata's only response was a cold laugh, smiling as the bulkhead closed behind the swearing captain.

"Like as if I care what anyone thinks of me anymore."

-AO-

"Try hailing them again!"

Kalaghata tried to keep calm, stressing out would not be good for anyone. The Federation had met this Kalaghata figure before? The famous Captain Kirk had met him before as well? Yet there were a few problems with the Admiral's statement. Didn't he know that Captain Kirk was dead? Why did he still think the old Constitutions were still in service? Just how did he meet the Empire if the wormhole didn't even exist until a few hours ago? Rubbing his temples, Kalaghata turned to his first officer.

"Mr. Doran, take a quick look at the database, see if you can find anything on Admiral Kalaghata."

"Aye sir."

"Erm, Captain?"

Eri spoke up, still seated in Doran's chair.

"What are you going to do? I spent half my life trying to avoid the Empire, but now that my shuttle is useless, I have no choice but to ask for your help. I do not intend on dying anytime soon."

Red took a look at her. She looked about ten years younger than him, yet he could tell from the look in her eyes that she had been through a lot.

"While I am bound by the prime directive from interfering in your civil war, I can offer you political asylum for a while…"

"Sir!"

Red spun around, training his eyes on Ambrosio who was looking down at his console.

"The _Kairos_ has begun to accelerate and is powering up its weapons. The fighters are also charging their weapons."

"All hands to battle stations. Sorry Ms Eri, but I will require your knowledge on their capabilities. Mr. Doran, belay my last order, I need you at your station to keep an eye out for other ships."

"Aye Sir'

Eri hesitated for a moment, weighing her options in her head.

"Yes, Captain."


	5. Chapter 5

The _Arcana_ heeled over to avoid a few turbolaser bolts from the star destroyer, lashing out phasers and scoring a few hits on the TIE fighters. The others circled around, spraying the area with lasers as they weaved around the Starfleet ship.

"Shields holding at 98 percent. The fighters are now attempting to make another pass sir."

Red nodded to his security officer. "Continue evasive maneuvers and return fire. Ignore the fighters and concentrate on the destroyer. If we can, target only the weapons, keep the casualties to a minimum."

The bridge rocked slightly as a turbolaser bolt found its mark, the shields flaring from the impact. In return, a few phaser bolts ripped across the _Kairos_ , the armored hull buckling and scorched in their wake.

-AO-

"Sir! Multiple damage reports are coming in from numerous areas. We have lost a few of the smaller guns and the fighters are barely making a dent in their shields. Those weapons of theirs are just passing through our ray shields like they weren't event there!"

"Then turn on the particle shield as well! While you're at it, try shifting the phase frequency!"

"But Admiral! We can't operate the two shields at the same time! We also can't shift frequencies while in operation as well! We would have to lower them to do so. Maybe we should call back the fighters and retre…"

The man couldn't finish that last word, falling to the ground dead with a hole in his chest. Kalaghata re-pocketed his blaster with a sneer on his face. He was losing his patience. What should have been a quick obliteration was now turning into a battle of over half an hour. He poured over his memories of the _Enterprise's_ schematics and Starfleet's data files. The ship he was in combat with was much faster and powerful than anything that the Federation could have achieved, yet there it was bearing Starfleet markings.

"You!" He screamed, pointing at the crewman who was sitting next to the corpse of the dead officer. "Consider yourself as his new replacement. Tell the gunnery crews to keep firing…..WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ALL DOING? WHY IS THAT MAN HERE? "

-AO-

"Shields now at 63 percent."

Ducking to avoid a shower of sparks from an exploding panel, Eri swore loudly.

"You call this defending yourselves? Granted, I am impressed that a ship of this size is lasting this long, but you need reinforcements!"

A calm Aka'ula merely glanced up at her.

"Reinforcements are on their way, in fact, I believe that that is another ship right now."

Following his pointing finger, Eri turned to see a ship burst into view in a flash of light. The newcomer she noticed was of a different build than the one she was on, yet the markings were still similar. It began firing what looked to her like blobs of light at the _Kairos_ , surprised as they exploded against the hull of the Imperial ship instead of impacting their shields. Shaking his head, Red turned back to the security station.

"She always was way too aggressive for her own good. Mr. Ambrosio, signal the _Thunderchild_ to draw away the fighters but warn them we are keeping casualties to a minimum. Continue disabling the mother ship's weapons."

"I don't believe that we need to do that captain."

Everyone turned to Ambrosio, who in turn glared at all of them back.

"The _Kairos_ has ceased firing and the fighters are retreating."

-AO-

A hysteric Kalaghata was flailing in the grip of two armed guards, screaming for release while also swearing at the equally mad Ratula.

"Traitors! How dare you all go up against a flag officer of the Empire! This is high treason! You should all be executed! Listen to your orders and release me at once!"

"No, you listen to me." Ratula growled out, bending down to look the admiral in the eyes. "You have put this ship and her crew in danger just for settling revenge. Lucky that the crew thinks the same way as I do and decided to come and get me after all the damage you have caused and the lives lost."

Ratula stood back up and surveyed the damage. Hull breaches and small plasma fires littered the hull of the destroyer, while in numerous areas the armor was blackened from near misses. From what the guards said when they barged into the cell to retrieve him, half the fighters were heavily damaged or destroyed within the first few minutes of battle.

"It seems that you have underestimated the enemy's strength and as a result will cost us a long while in a repair dock. Now what will the other admirals say hmm? I doubt that you will be forgiven. Guards, bring him to the brig."

The admiral of course resisted as much as he could, his screams and swears echoing after him as he was dragged away. Fixing his uniform, Ratula turned to the communications officer.

"As soon as the rest of the fighters have docked, signal the Federation ships so we can explain our situation."

-AO-

"Sir, the team from the _Thundechild_ will come aboard shortly."

"Understood, energize as soon as they are ready."

Kagami, Eri and Ambrosio were standing in the transporter room ready to greet the away team from the _USS Thunderchild_ as the _Arcana_ was chosen to host the cease fire negotiations with Captain Ratula. While Red and Ambrosio waited patiently, Eri was questioning the sanity of everyone present.

"…and why are you all just inviting them over? For all we know it could be a trap! Did I mention that the Empire is not to be trusted? I am pretty sure I did!"

Ambrosio growled, flicking his eyes toward the redhead.

"Yes, at least twelve times so far in the past five minutes! Can't you talk about anything else?"

Eri huffed, crossing her arm and then taking a look around the room.

"Okay then mister grumpy-face, what are we doing in this room? If we are going to meet your friends, shouldn't we be in the shuttle bay?"

Instead of words, Ambrosio rolled his eyes in annoyance and pointed to the pad taking up a large portion of the floor and bulkhead. Still confused, Eri had to pinch herself from screaming in shock. A high-pitched whine and several curtains of shimmering lights appeared for a few seconds before being replaced by a woman and several other crewman, all wearing what Eri now recognized as the standard Starfleet uniforms.

Almost everyone else seemed unfazed by the situation, as if it was normal for people to just appear from nowhere. The woman, after taking a quick glance at Eri, nodded to Ambrosio before breaking into a smile at Kagami.

"Ah Red, getting into trouble again I see. Lucky that we were in the area when we heard you got caught in a battle. Oh the job of a big sister never ends."

Red chuckled lightly before allowing himself to get hugged.

"Haumea, it is nice to see you again. But we should go down to the shuttle bay; the representatives from the Empire will be coming by shuttle."

He let out his hand in a gesture to allow her to go first. Haumea walked briskly out the door first, everyone following in her wake.

"Wha….what just happened?" whispered Eri to Ambrosio, amusement on his face as he noticed her shock.

"That was a transporter. It's capable of transporting people or cargo across short distances such as between two ships or to and from orbit without the need for a shuttle. However, seeing as how you are already confused, I think that explaining the mechanics behind it will be a bit too much."

Up ahead, Haumea was still talking with Red.

"Where is Doran-chan, or that idiot of a doctor, Smith?"

"Both of them are preparing the conference room, it got pretty messy during the battle. But sister, maybe you should refrain from the Japanese okay? You know how Horace hates it, especially now that you've gotten Doran speaking it."

Haumea laughed loudly, startling an unexpecting Eri who was still shocked from the transporter.

"Then I shall talk exclusively in Japanese for him. Now who is your friend?" she asked, finally noticing the stunned redhead behind them as they entered the turbo lift.

"M…my name is Eri ma'am." Stammered out Eri, who was now regaining her composure. "I was being attacked by the Imps when I ran into Captain Kagami."

"Imps huh? Heh heh, funny nickname. Well anyway, welcome to the United Federation of Planets, though I guess you kind of got that speech already." Haumea spoke, waving down Ambrosio as he attempted to point out her casual disregard for protocol. "While I am here, please call me Captain Haumea, and my brother Captain Aka'ula or Red, it will get very confusing if everyone here referred to us both as Kagami."

Exiting the turbo lift, they all walked down the corridor to the shuttle bay. Eri noticed that they moved her shuttle into an alcove on the side, making a mental note to have it repaired as soon as possible.

"I don't think that will be able to fit."

Confused at the statement, Eri turned to see what everyone was looking at. Just outside of the force field around the shuttle bay entrance, an Imperial shuttle was sitting a short distance off. Its large wings prevented it from entering the comparatively tiny shuttle bay.

Haumea took charge, giving out orders despite it being her brother's ship.

"Beam their party over. They can have the shuttle return to the ship as soon as they're aboard."

"Yes ma'am."

A few minutes later, several shocked men were standing in the shuttle bay, Ratula trying to get a bearing of his surroundings while his men fumbled for their weapons.

Aka'ula stepped forward, raising his arms in a gesture of peace.

"Sorry for the surprise, but welcome aboard the _USS Arcana_. If you may please lower your weapons and follow me."

Eri watched as the confused storm troopers lowered their weapons with Ratula's approval. This was going to be a very interesting meeting.


	6. Chapter 6

Ratula didn't know what to say. One moment he was on the shuttle discussing with the crew on how they would get aboard then the next moment a strange haze and tingling sensation overcame them and deposited all of them in a hanger full of similar looking shuttlecraft.

Ignoring the frantic calls of the shuttle pilot asking where they were, he instead made a few observations of the alien crew before him. Despite some minor variations, almost all of the crew was wearing the same uniform of black and a primary color. The only exception being whom he guessed was the female pilot from the Alliance.

Under his observation, he was amused that she attempted to hide something under her jacket. He couldn't have mistaken it. She was one of the few Jedi left, trying to hide her light-saber from a known threat to her people. Her young face, now that he thought about it, looked eerily familiar. Although he can't remember when, he could swear that they have met before.

He put his thoughts aside as two of the Federation officers stepped forward. Both were wearing a red variant of the uniform. Judging by the fact that they both had what looked like the largest amount of rank bars, he assumed that they were in charge. Taking the initiative, he decided to introduce himself first.

"I am Captain Ratula of the Imperial Remnant. I sincerely apologize for Admiral Kalaghata's actions earlier. I hope that you haven't had too many losses?"

The man was the first to speak.

"My name is Aka'ula Kagami and this is my sister Haumea Kagami. Fortunately our losses were isolated to a few moderate injuries, but if our battle continued further I am afraid that it could have been much worse. I also deeply apologize for the deaths of your own crew. We ourselves uphold all life as sacred and try to keep casualties to a minimum even those of our enemies."

Ratula nodded, impressed by their apparent adherence to their doctrines, unlike a certain admiral.

"I now see why most of your strikes were directed to our weapons instead of vital systems. I applaud you for being so considerate even in the face of the enemy. But before we continue, is there a better place to talk? I don't think a shuttle bay is the best location for negotiations."

Aka'ula turned around, ready to lead the way to the conference room. Ratula signaled to the frantic shuttle pilot that he was fine and to return to the _Kairos_ before following him through the doors.

-AO-

"I said no and that is final!"

"But Hora-sama! I think that Aunty Haumea would appreciate having a comfy pink couch instead of these dull things!" Doran said, pointing out one of the conference chairs.

Both had only spent five minutes cleaning up the conference room for the negotiations, but Horace spent the latter half of ten refusing to allow Doran to do as he pleased, much to the teen's annoyance. As soon as he heard that Haumea was boarding the ship for peace talks, Horace all but chained Doran to the table to prevent him from running off to greet her. Unable to do as he pleased, Doran had then decided to focus on being as irritating as possible.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Horace called out, shuddering at the name "Also, please do not refer to that woman with such close familiarity while I am present."

"You are no fun at all. Well, Fintan is even duller but then again it is Fintan, he always was like that." Doran began to ramble, puffing his lips out as if deep in thought. "Okay, how about a nice purple one?"

"NO!"

A moment later, Red walked into the room, an eyebrow raised at the two men indicating he could heard Horace's shout. Beckoning behind him, several others filed into the room. The Imperial captain looked over his shoulder at the bridge with an interested look while Eri sat down quietly fuming.

Out of the corner of his eye, Horace saw Doran give a small wave at Haumea before quickly putting on a stoic mask. 'Typical. Of course he pretends to be serious when others are around' he mentally complained, taking his seat with the others and turning his attention to Aka'ula, who was still standing at the head of the table.

"Let us begin shall we? As we are already aware, the reason for this meeting is to negotiate a ceasefire between our respective parties. Captain Ratula shall speak for the Imperial Remnant (the man raising his hand in acknowledgement), Miss Eri in the interests of the Alliance (the redhead merely nodded) and Captain Haumea and I shall speak on behalf of the United Federation of Planets."

"Permission to speak?" Eri said, breaking her silence and looking down the table to Aka'ula. Glancing at her, he nodded his head and sat down. Haumea seemed pleased for some reason and leaned forward while Ratula gazed at her in question.

"I may not be a politician, but I do know for a fact that this man…" she spoke, gesturing to Ratula, "…can't reasonably speak for the Empire as a whole. Especially as it has recently splintered into several different factions. How are we to guarantee that others will not ignore what is agreed upon in this room?"

Ratula smiled lightly, 'It seems that this girl can think rationally, even if she seems a bit biased.' Choosing his words he looked at her in the eyes.

"You are quite correct madam. I can't guarantee that other factions will listen to me. However, I can say that most of the admirals of my faction respect me and will uphold the decisions that I make, unlike Admiral Kalaghata, who is safely locked up in the Kairo's brig."

Haumea, who was listening intently, nodded and then voiced her own question.

"If I may ask Mr. Ratula, where exactly is the location of your people? I had taken the liberty of checking the Federation's databases before this meeting and there is no reliable record of an entity that called itself the Galactic Empire. From what my brother tells me, even your language is completely new to us. It took us a while to get the translators working because of that."

Ratula didn't know what to say. He knew that none of the stars matched known patterns, and he had definitely never come across ships such as the one he is currently on.

"I am not sure of how to answer that." He said honestly. "I myself have no clue where we are right now. The Old Republic charted a vast majority of the galaxy, yet our computers can't figure out heads or tails of our location. Even in relatively uncharted areas such as the Unknown Regions, there is still enough light from known stars to be able to know our relative position. I just do not recognize any of the stars here."

Pausing, another thought came to him.

"In fact, I don't even recall ever hearing about your Federation. One would think that such a reasonably powerful entity would have been recorded or at least heard of by the general public."

Doran finally spoke up himself, deciding to relay his own opinions.

"Despite the fact that we all can't determine the relative locations of our territories to each other, there is also the question on how the admiral knew about us."

Surprised, Ratula turned to the side, only noticing the blond after he spoke up.

"Sorry, I don't believe we were introduced."

A light thud was heard and everyone turned to see Aka'ula rubbing the back of his head and Haumea with a raised fist and a disappointed look on her face.

"Let me apologize for my forgetful brother." She explained, a glancing back to her brother before continuing. "The man who just spoke is Commander Doran, his first officer. Next to him is the ship's chief medical officer Doctor Smith. And you have already met the chief of security Fintan Ambrosio." She concluded, waiving her hand toward the still standing officer.

"Please, continue commander."

"As I was saying; captain. You say you don't ever recall records of the Federation, and we have none on your Empire. This creates a paradox if we take into consideration Admiral Kalaghata's earlier statements. I recall that he had already encountered the Federation, specifically a man known as Captain James Tiberius Kirk. That in itself leads to even more questions as Kirk's time was almost a hundred years ago."

Ratula processed the information.

"That would imply the admiral is over a hundred. That can't be right. Humans only live for about 80 years yet he has no sign of aging. So unless he is an alien that looks ridiculously human-like, that is impossible.

Horace stood up slightly. 'A humanoid that possibly was at least a hundred years old yet doesn't look a day over thirty? El-Aurians are a possible explanation, though his demeanor is pretty uncommon for their race. He couldn't be a t…no, the others are all gone. Those two made sure of that. He has to be something else…..

"Doctor?"

Horace jumped slightly.

"Huh? Where is he?"

"Doctor, are you alright?"

Blinking, Horace quickly noticed everyone looking at him in either concern or in Haumea's case, barely concealed amusement. Looking down in embarrassment, he apologized and attempted to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"It is nothing to be concerned about."

Ignoring the disruption, Aka'ula decided to change the subject.

"We could discuss the admiral later. I believe I have figured out an answer to our location problems."

Everyone (minus the still embarrassed medical officer) turned their attention to him.

"This is just a possibility, but given the evidence my crew has gathered, and the testimony everyone here has provided, I believe it is possible that we may have encountered a wormhole between two galaxies. Not just that, but a wormhole between two times as well."

Everyone sat in silence at the implication. In the pause, no one took notice of the momentary look of fear on Ambrosio's face.

"What do you mean by that Red?" Haumea asked, a thoughtful look on her face. "As far as i know, this could also be explained as rift between quantum realities."

Doran, quickly understanding what was said, answered for him.

"I am more inclined to believe the first hypothesis. Just before the battle, we were scanning the wormhole for several minutes. I noticed that the graviton and neutrino emissions were much higher for a wormhole its size. Even the Bajoran Wormhole isn't as powerful as this one. Additional scans of the _Kairos_ and Ms Eri's shuttle for now don't show a discrepancy in the quantum signature so i'm not going with alternate realities just yet. If the wormhole does connect two galaxies and time periods, then it could both justify the higher emission levels, the admiral's claim that he has met Captain Kirk and our inability get relative positions of each other. However, for such an thing to happen, that must mean that even though the other end of the wormhole is stable, our end must not be fully fixed to a specific point in time. No one has ever been able to find the wormhole until now because of that."

Ratula nodded in agreement.

"Our end of the wormhole is located in a relatively uncharted area of space. It seems reasonable that not many people would be aware of it on our side."

While everyone else was discussing this, Eri was beginning to get more confused by the second.

"Gravitas? Nutrients? What the heck are you guys talking about? I understand that the wormhole-thing is apparently connecting our homes. But can't you all just speak in plain Basic?"

Everyone looked at her, Haumea exempted again as she was giggling hysterically. Rolling his eyes, Horace, who finally recovered from his embarrassment, decided to explain it to the poor redhead.

"The correct terms are gravitons and neutrinos. They are subatomic particles that are known byproducts of the formation of a wormhole within the subspace domain. You see, for a wormhole to physically connect two physical and temporal coordinates, it must….."

Eri put her hands up in defeat.

"Please, enough of that. My brain hurts. Can we all get back on topic? I thought we were here to discuss peace negotiations."

It was now everyone else's turn to get embarrassed.

"Okay then. Shall we try again?" said a slightly blushing Aka'ula.


End file.
